Eczema in 4 month old

[turtle23]

DS was pretty much exclusively BF, although he did have the odd bottle of formula here and there until a couple of weeks ago. He started having a few dry patches following a bath product that I stupidly used thinking it was ok since it was non-foaming and supposedly baby-friendly. Harumph. ANyway, have put him onto formula since then ( and nothing in bath!) and he started hating it(Aptimil) so changed to Hipp and I dont know if it's just the natural progression of the thing or the Hipp but he has a lot more eczema patches on his tummy now. Do we try another formula, and if so which one? How best to change? Surely a milk intolerance/allergy would have surfaced before now? I eat a lot of dairy so am guessing he would have had problems on my breastmilk? Sorry for long post.

Have just noticed there's rapeseed oil in it...isn't that quite allergenic? Or am I wrong?

We are battling with DD2's eczema at the moment - her's became alot worse at roughly 4 months when I was swapping to mixed feeding and then just formula but doctors I've spoken to seem to think that if it's something they're predisposed to have (I have eczema and hayfever, DP has asthma) this tends to be about the age it comes out.

Basically I don't think it's worth beating yourself up about!

DD1 was just the same and it had cleared up by the time she was 1. She just gets the occasional patch when it's warm etc.

We've been using oats (in old tights) in her bath which seems to be really soothing. Have tried lots of creams - using one called eumovate at the moment with some success.

Not sure about different formulas - DD is now on Cow and Gate as she didn't seem to like Aptimil which DD1 always had. We did try DD1 on Infasoy without any improvement to her eczema.

Good luck - you feel so awful for them, don't you!

Turtle, I would certainly be considering a (mild) dairy allergy if I were you. It doesn't always show itself through the breastmilk. DS1 was breastfed with a couple of formula feeds early on. He reacted to milk at 6 mo - 'luckily' his reaction was hives rather than eczema so cause and effect were immediately obvious. He continued to have no problem with my breastmilk even though I ate a lot of dairy.

The problem you may have is determining whether dairy is linked to your lo eczema. GPs are very dubious about food allergy/eczema links so may be very reluctant to send you to the allergy clinic, esp. if the eczema is mild. All I can do as an ex-sufferer of dairy allergy and severe eczema is urge you to keep the possibility in mind and, if the eczema gets worse go to a GP and make them refer you. It horrifies and saddens me how many children w. severe eczema never make it to an allergy clinic with just creams being offered to treat the symptoms. Obviously lots of children never get more than a few patches of eczema which they grow out of, so hopefully this will be true of your ds.

Thank you to both of you. I am hoping that the heat has made a little problem a bit bigger, but will certainly stand up to GP if it carries on/worsens!